Allbritton launches TBD.com, TBD TV

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The company’s long-awaited metro website TBD.com launched at 5:00 AM on 8/9. News Channel 8 DC, the company’s 24-hour cable news channel was also officially renamed TBD TV.


Under the direction of General Manager Jim Brady, former editor of WashingtonPost.com, TBD.com will produce news through a combination of staff reporting and aggregation of other local blogs and news sites including Allbritton-owned ABC7/WJLA-TV DC and the newly re-branded TBD TV. The site will also serve as the portal for both TV properties.

“We’re trying to figure out how to have a mix of content produced by professionals and make sure we’re also keeping an eye on all the great journalism that’s being produced by citizens in the area. If we put it all together, we’ll have created news report that is different than anything that you’re seeing in the market so far.” Brady said.

The site will have a staff of about 50, including about 20 reporters and six members of a community engagement team. The goal of the site is to engage Washington users by highlighting  major, area-wide news as well as providing micro, neighborhood-level information personalized via zip code information for each user. TBD will make strong use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare to gather and distribute the news. The site features a network of more than 120 community blogs and websites.

Arts and entertainment, sports, transportation and dining will be key concentration areas for the TBD.com reporting team. Weather coverage will be provided by ABC7/WJLA-TV including weather superstars Bob Ryan and Doug Hill. Weather and transportation information also will be key features of the TBD iPhone and Android apps.